Ore-separator



E. F. COLDWELL.

ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28. 1911.

1,363,760, Patented Dec. 28,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F76. 4. HQ 24 "En 25 39 ERNEST F. GOLDWELL, F LACl-IZNE, QUEBEC, CANADA,ASSIGNOB, To AR OLEll TEN-TS, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

ORE-SEPARATOR.

Specification of Le tters Patent.

Driginal application filed March 9, 1917, Serial 170. 153,756. Dividedand this application filed May 28,

all arizcni dim- 1y concern it known that I. Enxns'r F. CoLnwnLL,

oi -the United States, at present reof Lachine, in the Province Domini nof Canada, have and useful improveatom, of which the rollowing 1s afull, clear, and exact descrip- L ihe object of a simple and eincientrating and retaining the gold particles at a him expense for ooth plantand opercosts.

a The apparatus censis s briefly or a nop- I apparatus ror sepa- I v. w.-L 1 l oer containing tie material to be L-lGtltQCr,

a h ion i ty rrom the rial lows -1gh phi ty oi spouts 0 water jets. ihematerial :1 1 i i. all tlll'OllQll pass;

I I 1 jected to the action oi steam je s and are pro ected into cupscontaining amalgam. 7 .1. 1 L1 .1] r 1- 1. ihe greater part or LDC gemis ca-ignt in .he cup" retained the amalgam,

. w M w rile he is carried out the mater. J 1 -i 3 -11 Any SZHLl our];oi goid which adheres to or is c=. mercury cups in screening devicebelow. The mercury catches in addition to gold, any p amalgam which mayhash of the cups by the sand. The scree de c t series of t ays, w-n e.14 A gilaiekL in the drawings which illustrate the ventionzelevation ofthe device,

Serial No. 171,557.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the trays, showing the screen therein.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a hopperadapted to contain the material, having the bottom thereof provided withgrooves or corrugations 12. The bottom is also inclined transversely tothe grooves, and at the lower edge, each groove terminates in a spout15, which spouts deliver the material to tunnels 1 L set in the mouthsof the passages 15, and terminating opposite the view openings 16, sothat the feed of material from I spent may be observed. A water pipeleads into each spout 13, and is arranged direct a of water against theoutflowing material. This water flows up in each groove a certaindistance, keeps the material stirred up, and then flows down in the b- Hgive velocity to the material and water, so

that they discharge with considerable viofrom the passages 15 into theamalgam cups 20. These cups rest in a rack 21 in a chamber 22, and areeach provided near the top with an inwardly projecting lip 23 designedto prevent as far as possible the escape of gold or amalgam from thecup. The velocity of the material entering the cup keeps the line grainsof material practically in suspen ion in the water, so that as the waterflows out over the rim of the cup, the earthy matter is carried with it,while the heavier gold is retained in the cup by the force of gravityand by the amalgam. The water and earthy material, together with suchparticles of gold as have not been separated, and any particles ofamalgam which have escaped from the cups, flow out of the chamberthrough the descending passage 2%, at the discharge end of which is anannular apertured water pipe 25 arranged to direct a jet of Waterdownwardly around the mouth of the oss sage 24;. This curtain of wateracts as a condenser for any steam which may remain in vaporous form inthe apparatus, and also provides additional water to agitate and washthe material on the trays 26 and 27.

These trays are suspended one above the ther by means or" links 28 and29 from fixed frame or other members 30 and may be agitated by anysuitable means, such as the eccentric devices 31. Each of the trays orpans is slightly sloped toward the center, where sumps or depressions 32and 33 are formed, which may be filled with mercury for the purpose ofcatching and holding any particles of gold or amalgam that may haveescaped from the apparatus above. The upper tray 26 is provided with aperipheral flange or wall, which is slightly lower at the ends 34 thanat the-sides 35, so that all escape of material will be at the ends ofthe tray. The lower tray 27 may be formed similarly or may have itsflange of uniform height all around. Inthe bottom of each tray, a screen36 is provided, which has slight movement independent of the trays. Eachscreen is suspended by a single mem ber 57 at each end, as distinguishedfrom the links 28 and 29 attached to the sides of the trays. The screensmay be agitated by an eccentric device 38, similar to that used foragitating the trays, but arranged to move the screens in the oppositedirection to the trays, and preferably at a higher speed. The higherscreen speed may be obtained by giving the eccentric device greaterthrow as shown, or by any other suitable means. It will be clearly seenin Fig. 2 that the suspension members of the screens are attached onopposite sides of the center line, so that in addition to the agitationimparted by the eccentric devices, the screens will have a slightoscillatory movement in a horizontal plane. If desired, the screen maybe given in addition a buckling motion, as indicated in dotted lines,Fig. 1, by limiting the movement of one suspension link, so that itchecks the end of the screen, which it supports, while the opposite endconnected to the eccentric device continues to move. It will beunderstood, however, that this buckling or bending o1 the screen may bedownward as well as upward, or may be dispensed with altogether. Thelimitation of movement of the suspension link may be effected by meansof a friction joint or in any other manner found suitable. The amount ofwater and steam necessary to produce proper movement and separationWhile gold is the only metal mentioned in the description as reclaimableby the apparatus, it will be understood that the inven tion is in no waylimited to this particular metal, as platinum and possibly other metalsmay be separated by the same or a very similar apparatus from sand andearthy matter with which they are mixed. It will be understood that airor other fluid may be used instead of steam to assist in breaking uplumps of the material by dashing them against the sides of the passages15 and into the amalgam cups.

laving thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a device ofthe class described, a tray, a screen therein, means for moving thetray, and means for producing a compound movement or the screen, saidmovement be ing partly in the line of tray movement, partly oscillatoryin a horizontal plane and partly a vertical movement.

2. In a device of the class described, a tray, a screen therein, meansfor moving the tray and means for moving the screen, means for resistingthe movement of said screen, whereby the screen will be buckled, saidscreen moving and screen movement resistance means being arranged out ofalinement relatively to the direction of screen movement, whereby thescreen is oscillated about a point within its periphery simultaneouslywith the other movements thereof.

3. In a device of the class described, a tray, means for moving thetray, a screen in the tray, and means attached to one edge of the screenfor moving the same relatively to the tray in substantially the plane oftray movement, a suspension member for the screen attached to theopposite edge thereof from the moving means and arranged to limitmovement of the screen edge to which it is attached to a degree lessthan the movement imparted by the screen moving means, whereby thescreen will be buckled relatively to the plane of the tray.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

ERNEST F. COLDWELL.

